DETROIT — With Michigan football having lost several key defensive players to the NFL draft — first-rounders Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, second-rounder Will Johnson, and third-rounder Josaiah Stewart — many across college football don’t have high expectations for the Wolverine defense. Yet, the unit that was No. 10 in the country a year ago in total defense is ready to reload, and it’s shown that it’s capable of dominating, even without those aforementioned stars.

Against Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, nine of this year’s expected 11 starters defensively were on the field at the outset of the game, while many others factored in. That group held a formidable, full-strength Crimson Tide offense to just 13 points. One of the stars of that game was safety Brandyn Hillman, who is now entering his junior year.

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Expected to start this year, Hillman believes that the defense showcased its ability in the ReliaQuest Bowl and that it will improve upon what was seen last year — especially the lapses in the early season in 2024.

“In one of my other interviews, I kind of said, in my opinion, we’re the best in the country — I mean the best group in the country up front and in the back end,” Hillman said on the Locked On Wolverines Podcast. “The back end, we’re real young, real young guys like me, Jyaire Hill, TJ Metcalf, Tevis Metcalf, Jacob Oden — like everybody young. We’re all around the same age, and then the guys up front, we’re known for that, and it’s never a step off. It’s never a step off. Y’all seen it from the Alabama game. We didn’t have Mason, K.G., but it wasn’t a step off. You still out there getting to the quarterback. So I feel like it’s a big year coming up, my guys ready. I’m ready to come out to show it.”

Hillman had already braved quite a bit of depth at the safety position to find himself in the rotation a year ago. Now he’s expected to start, but with the room getting deeper with a trio of four-star freshmen and the Metcalf brothers transferring from Arkansas, there’s even more competition at the position. The same can be said of the defensive tackle position, which added Clemson transfer Tré Williams and Alabama transfer Damon Payne.

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Particularly at defensive back, how does the competition help and how does it hinder?

“In my opinion, just be consistent, know what you got to do,” Hillman said. “The defense got to trust you. I mean, yeah, you can be the best player, but if you’re out there on the field, nobody trusts you on the back end or on the island by yourself with that receiver, it’s like — I don’t know if I want to put you in. But if you’re consistent, showing it at practice, doing what you got to do, that’s how you separate yourself from everybody else. And I take pride in myself for doing that. And I think I did that.”

Michigan fans will get a chance to see the defense in action starting on August 30 when the Wolverines host New Mexico for the 2025 season opener at The Big House.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Brandyn Hillman: Michigan’s defense stays elite in 2025